One of my favorite aspects of education is that it is presented to adolescents through numerous educators and every one of these educators has their own philosophy, with no two educators having exactly the same philosophy. These differences allow students to learn through a variety of techniques that can illustrate material in multiple perspectives. As a beginning teacher, I have an idea of what my teaching philosophy is, but only with the passing of time will I be able to hone this philosophy into something more substantial. Below I will discuss my teaching philosophy, but remember it is only a draft.
To me, the most important aspect of my philosophy is the need to be an expert in my content areas. Although I recognize that I will never be able to know every detail about every aspect of science, I also recognize that I can learn everything I need to know about the content that I will teach each day. In order to do this, I must review the material I am about to teach and I must research all topics that I feel uncertain about so that I can become an expert. This will take a lot of time in my first few years of teaching, but over the years, it will absorb less and less of my time. If I am going to expect my students to learn hard scientific concepts, I must illustrate to them that I myself understand these scientific concepts. For example, if a student was to ask me a question that I did not know the answer to, it would illustrate to my students the idea that "if our teacher doesn't know this stuff, why should we." Now that I have begun teaching in the classroom, I realize that it is okay to say to the students "That is a good question, and you know, I am unsure of the answer. How about we find the answer together?" When you begin teaching, you feel the need to always know everything, but this is just not possible. The most important thing to me now is to be able to demonstrate that no one knows everything and the important part is that you know how to FIND the answers to questions.
Along with the need to be an expert in my content area, I feel that it is important to address literacy in my classes. Illiteracy is an issue that effects our whole nation and it must be addressed in all content areas in all schools. To help students practice their reading and writing skills in my classroom, I intend to use a variety of literacy strategies in my classes. Some of these strategies include reading for content, writing journals, jigsaws, KWL charts, etc. I will encourage the use of good grammar and punctuation by incorporating these areas into their grades. For example, lab reports will lose points for misspelled words and misused punctuation. I will set a good example for the students by proof reading all of my handouts and worksheets for errors so that my students can see that I practice what I preach. Now that I am teaching I see on a daily basis that the students are always searching to find your mistakes which makes taking the time to go over your handouts incredibly important. As the teacher, I am trying to set an example for my students and it is incredibly hypocritical to attack students for sloppy work if I myself hand them sloppy work.
Another aspect of my teaching philosophy is to illustrate the relevance of the topics I teach. To demonstrate that what I teach is relevant to the students and their lives, I will incorporate everyday experiences and concrete examples into my lessons. For example, while discussing volcanoes I can incorporate Hawaii into our lessons. Since Hawaii is one of our countries' states, students are familiar with it and may become more interested because they can relate the material to it. Studies have shown that students perform better and retain information longer, not to mention enjoy lessons more, when material is presented with relevance. This does not have to be done everyday, but I have found that students seem to really enjoy concluding each chapter with a lesson that allows the students to apply the content they have just learned to their daily lives.
In addition to my other aspects, I believe that science should be taught through hands on activities that are inquiry based. Inquiry is a very important aspect of teaching science because it allows students to learn science the way that it is "practiced" by professionals in the field. It demonstrates to students the importance of asking questions, experimenting, observing, interpreting results and thinking critically. Inquiry based learning is also more enjoyable to students because it is generally hands on, allowing the students to do something other than listen, read, and take notes. And every good teacher knows just how much students dislike taking notes!
The final aspect of my teaching philosophy is the importance of incorporating technology into the classroom. Technology provides all kinds of teaching resources such as power point presentations, video clips, pictures, models, and additional information not found in textbooks. I intend to emphasize student use of computers to do research, put together projects, and to type up important assignments. The more practice that students are given with technology, the better and more creative their classwork will be. Also, this generation of students is very computer savvy and they really enjoy being able to use their knowledge to complete creative assignments. I have noticed that the quality of work is much better when students use computers for various activities.
Teaching Philosophy
One of my favorite aspects of education is that it is presented to adolescents through numerous educators and every one of these educators has their own philosophy, with no two educators having exactly the same philosophy. These differences allow students to learn through a variety of techniques that can illustrate material in multiple perspectives. As a beginning teacher, I have an idea of what my teaching philosophy is, but only with the passing of time will I be able to hone this philosophy into something more substantial. Below I will discuss my teaching philosophy, but remember it is only a draft.
To me, the most important aspect of my philosophy is the need to be an expert in my content areas. Although I recognize that I will never be able to know every detail about every aspect of science, I also recognize that I can learn everything I need to know about the content that I will teach each day. In order to do this, I must review the material I am about to teach and I must research all topics that I feel uncertain about so that I can become an expert. This will take a lot of time in my first few years of teaching, but over the years, it will absorb less and less of my time. If I am going to expect my students to learn hard scientific concepts, I must illustrate to them that I myself understand these scientific concepts. For example, if a student was to ask me a question that I did not know the answer to, it would illustrate to my students the idea that "if our teacher doesn't know this stuff, why should we." Now that I have begun teaching in the classroom, I realize that it is okay to say to the students "That is a good question, and you know, I am unsure of the answer. How about we find the answer together?" When you begin teaching, you feel the need to always know everything, but this is just not possible. The most important thing to me now is to be able to demonstrate that no one knows everything and the important part is that you know how to FIND the answers to questions.
Along with the need to be an expert in my content area, I feel that it is important to address literacy in my classes. Illiteracy is an issue that effects our whole nation and it must be addressed in all content areas in all schools. To help students practice their reading and writing skills in my classroom, I intend to use a variety of literacy strategies in my classes. Some of these strategies include reading for content, writing journals, jigsaws, KWL charts, etc. I will encourage the use of good grammar and punctuation by incorporating these areas into their grades. For example, lab reports will lose points for misspelled words and misused punctuation. I will set a good example for the students by proof reading all of my handouts and worksheets for errors so that my students can see that I practice what I preach. Now that I am teaching I see on a daily basis that the students are always searching to find your mistakes which makes taking the time to go over your handouts incredibly important. As the teacher, I am trying to set an example for my students and it is incredibly hypocritical to attack students for sloppy work if I myself hand them sloppy work.
Another aspect of my teaching philosophy is to illustrate the relevance of the topics I teach. To demonstrate that what I teach is relevant to the students and their lives, I will incorporate everyday experiences and concrete examples into my lessons. For example, while discussing volcanoes I can incorporate Hawaii into our lessons. Since Hawaii is one of our countries' states, students are familiar with it and may become more interested because they can relate the material to it. Studies have shown that students perform better and retain information longer, not to mention enjoy lessons more, when material is presented with relevance. This does not have to be done everyday, but I have found that students seem to really enjoy concluding each chapter with a lesson that allows the students to apply the content they have just learned to their daily lives.
In addition to my other aspects, I believe that science should be taught through hands on activities that are inquiry based. Inquiry is a very important aspect of teaching science because it allows students to learn science the way that it is "practiced" by professionals in the field. It demonstrates to students the importance of asking questions, experimenting, observing, interpreting results and thinking critically. Inquiry based learning is also more enjoyable to students because it is generally hands on, allowing the students to do something other than listen, read, and take notes. And every good teacher knows just how much students dislike taking notes!
The final aspect of my teaching philosophy is the importance of incorporating technology into the classroom. Technology provides all kinds of teaching resources such as power point presentations, video clips, pictures, models, and additional information not found in textbooks. I intend to emphasize student use of computers to do research, put together projects, and to type up important assignments. The more practice that students are given with technology, the better and more creative their classwork will be. Also, this generation of students is very computer savvy and they really enjoy being able to use their knowledge to complete creative assignments. I have noticed that the quality of work is much better when students use computers for various activities.